OpenAI’s recent partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense — rebranded under the Trump administration as the “Department of War” — has triggered a measurable reaction from American consumers, according to fresh app market data. What might have once been seen as a routine government contract has instead become a flashpoint in the broader debate over artificial intelligence and its role in military and surveillance operations.
Data from analytics firm Sensor Tower shows that U.S. uninstalls of the ChatGPT app surged 295% day-over-day on Saturday, February 28. To put that into perspective, the app’s typical day-over-day uninstall rate over the previous month averaged just 9%. The sudden spike suggests that a segment of users responded almost immediately after news of the Pentagon partnership became public.
Download Momentum Reverses
The reaction wasn’t limited to users deleting the app. Download growth also took a noticeable hit.
On Friday — before the partnership announcement gained traction — ChatGPT’s U.S. downloads were up 14% day-over-day, indicating healthy growth. But by Saturday, downloads had fallen 13%, reversing that upward trend. The slowdown continued into Sunday, when downloads dropped another 5% day-over-day.
User sentiment in app store reviews shifted just as dramatically. One-star reviews for ChatGPT jumped 775% on Saturday and then doubled again on Sunday. At the same time, five-star reviews declined by 50%, signalling that dissatisfaction wasn’t isolated to a small number of vocal critics but was widespread enough to impact overall rating patterns.
Claude Emerges as an Alternative
While ChatGPT faced backlash, its competitor Anthropic experienced a surge of interest in its AI chatbot app, Claude.
Anthropic had publicly stated that it would not enter into a partnership with the U.S. defence department. The company reportedly declined to move forward due to concerns that AI systems could be used for surveillance of Americans or deployed in fully autonomous weapons before safety standards are sufficiently developed. That position appears to have resonated with a portion of users seeking alternatives.
Sensor Tower reported that Claude’s U.S. downloads increased 37% day-over-day on Friday and rose another 51% on Saturday. The surge propelled Claude to the No. 1 position on the U.S. App Store by March 2 — a jump of more than 20 ranks compared to the week prior.
Additional data supports the trend. App figures found that Claude’s daily U.S. downloads surpassed ChatGPT’s for the first time on Saturday, estimating its growth at 88% day-over-day. The app also became the No. 1 free iPhone app in several countries outside the U.S., including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Similar web reported that Claude’s U.S. downloads over the past week were approximately 20 times higher than in January. However, the firm cautioned that not all of that growth may be directly attributable to the political controversy, as broader product momentum could also be contributing.
A Broader Trust Question Around AI
The rapid swings in installs, rankings, and reviews highlight a deeper issue: AI companies are now operating in an environment where public trust is closely tied to how their technology is deployed. Partnerships with defence or intelligence agencies — even if framed around national security or safety applications — are no longer viewed as neutral business decisions.
For some consumers, OpenAI’s DoD agreement represents progress in applying AI to complex government challenges. For others, it raises concerns about surveillance, military automation, and ethical boundaries. The numbers suggest that at least a portion of users are willing to act on those concerns by uninstalling apps or shifting to competitors.
Whether this backlash proves temporary or marks a longer-term shift in user loyalty remains uncertain. But the episode underscores a new reality in the AI era: corporate partnerships can quickly influence consumer behaviour especially when they intersect with politics, privacy, and national security.
